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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25217464">K-9 and the Rumor of the Friendship-Ending Coordinator</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_Felicia/pseuds/Mr_Felicia'>Mr_Felicia</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action/Adventure, Comedy, Coordinator, Emotional Manipulation, Family Loss, Fantasy, Friendship, Grief/Mourning, I swear this will make sense in the end, Loss, Memes, Memory Loss, Near Future, Other, Past Character Death, Probably the only magireco fanfic that isn’t about shipping, Rumors, Slice of Life, Social Links, Spies &amp; Secret Agents, mad dog - Freeform, post arc 1, post chapter 10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:07:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,810</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25217464</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_Felicia/pseuds/Mr_Felicia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Six years after the Magius left their mark on Kamihama, things have, for the most part, gone back to normal. Many of the city’s magical girls have since passed on, but a few who remember the Witch’s Eve remain, doing their best to coexist with their fellow magical girls as Kamihama returns to being bound by territories. But when rumors alarmingly similar to the rumors spread by the former Magius begin to circulate, old allies must unite and figure out who is behind the veil, right under their noses.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Nowadays (Felicia Mitsuki)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“The accident wasn’t your fault! You have to let me go!”</p><p>Felicia quickly sat up, tears rolling down her face as she simultaneously laughed and cried. Why did that sound like something Tsuruno would say? Honestly, she was a little mad at Ayame for showing her that meme, but she couldn’t be too upset about it in the long run. Sure, it sucked that Tsuruno wasn’t around anymore, but it was bound to happen eventually. For a magical girl, she’d managed to live a long time— how old was she again? 21? That sounded about right. She had unfortunately met the same fate as Sana— that is to say, she used her doppel one too many times. Felicia remembered in her panic, she’d ended up bumping Tsuruno’s body a few times with a car just so she could tell her dad. She’d been sobbing the whole time, but who wouldn’t? After all, Tsuruno had been the last to go out of Mikazuki. Well, besides herself and Ui, that is.</p><p>After wiping her eyes, Felicia stretched and finally got out of bed. She could still hear Yachiyo berating her for not making the bed in the back of her mind, but surely she would be okay with it just this once, right? After the dream she’d had, Felicia wasn’t sure she could motivate herself to do even that much.</p><p>“But I still have to work today...”</p><p>Felicia made a brief pouting face to herself. Working at Banbanzai hadn’t been the same since Tsuruno died, but she had to pay the bills somehow. Thanks to the help of Kako’s friend Meiyui, she had managed to pay the bills in Yachiyo’s name so far, but money was always pretty tight, even with four people sharing housing expenses. With a huff, Felicia quickly brushed her hair to somewhat acceptable standard, then threw on jeans, a tee shirt and a leather jacket— a gift she’d purchased after accumulating gift money. That still made it a gift, right? It didn’t matter in the end; it looked cool, just like she was. She would have to take it off a work, but she couldn’t care less. Living is temporary; looking cool is forever.</p><p>Felicia quickly stepped downstairs, greeted by the smell of eggs and bacon wafting through the air. It smelled so good, she practically ran over there and took it from whoever was eating it. But, more importantly...</p><p>“Meiyui! We can’t afford bacon!” Felicia stomped her way over to the kitchen, slamming her hands down on the counter in front of the blue-haired girl. Meiyui only looked up with her typical blank expression, but this time with an added smile.<br/>
“Good morning to you too, Mitsuki-san. You went to bed early last night, so I didn’t get the chance to tell you that we were gifted a pound of bacon last night.” Felicia visibly jumped back in surprise. Free bacon?! Who gave away bacon?! Actually, she didn’t need to know. As the old saying went, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth! ...Ugh, just thinking of that made her feel old. Thanks, Kako.<br/>
“Whoa, really? Then let me have some!” At almost lightning speed, Felicia had sped around to the other side of the kitchen counter, but Meiyui seemed to predict this, sidestepping so that Felicia ran into her.<br/>
“It isn’t finished cooking yet. Please wait a few minutes longer.” Felicia only scowled.<br/>
“You better not burn mine!” she exclaimed. It seemed that Meiyui liked her food cooked very dark. Whether it be toast, bacon, or chicken, Meiyui seemed to prefer it at a point that Felicia considered to be burnt— the polar opposite to Iroha’s cooking. Seriously, was there not a single person in the world who could find the perfect medium?!<br/>
“I know. I am watching yours very carefully,” Meiyui stated. Felicia was satisfied with that answer, and moved to sit on the couch while she waited. She was going to see if anything fun was running right now, but Kako and Ui were already watching the news. When she was younger, she might have swiped the remote from whoever had it and changed the channel herself, but nowadays she didn’t mind sitting and watching the news with the other two. It reminded her of the days when Iroha and Yachiyo would turn on the news in the mornings. It was nostalgic. It was... bittersweet.</p><p>...Wow. Kako’s dictionary was really starting to get to her.</p><p>“Anythin’ cool?”<br/>
Kako laughed a bit at Felicia’s abrupt comment, but it was Ui who responded.<br/>
“No, not that we’ve seen.”<br/>
“Another quiet day, then...”<br/>
Felicia stretched her arms and put her hands behind her head as she laid back against the couch. The only real interest Felicia had in the news was to watch for possible witch activity. If the news people reported a story that didn’t seem to line up, it was usually the result of a witch. In a way, it’d become a bit of a game between the group: who could figure out if it was a witch first? Ui and Meiyui usually got it the quickest. Over time, many false alarms had been made— most of which were DEFINITELY not her fault— and a rule had been made where the person to call a witch incorrectly had to treat everyone else. As a result, Felicia had decided that for once, it was okay to lose— if it meant her wallet wasn’t completely empty.</p><p>“Are you two working today?”</p><p>Felicia’s thoughts were shattered by the gentle voice that belonged to Kako, and she nodded in response. Not long after Tsuruno had passed, Ui decided she wanted to help— not just at Banbanzai, but also in paying the bills. She was a quick learner, probably because she was Iroha’s sister and Iroha was good at cooking. They still hadn’t passed the 5/10 mark, but Felicia had high hopes they would be able to do it. If nothing else, she felt there wasn’t a better way to honor her memory than to take up the mantle and restore Banbanzai to its former glory.</p><p>...Okay, so maybe that was a bit too optimistic. But who ever said being an optimist was ever a bad thing?!</p><p>Just then, another voice pierced the room:<br/>
“Breakfast is ready. Please come to the table.”<br/>
Meiyui has suddenly appeared in the living room. Even if she didn’t have invisibility or teleportation, she seemed to be somehow capable of just showing up without you noticing. Was it a kung fu technique she’d learned? Honestly, you’d think Sana would roll over in her grave. But right now, there was only one thing on Felicia’s mind:<br/>
“Meat!”<br/>
Felicia rushed over to her spot at the table, where Meiyui had wisely already distributed each person’s portions on separate plates so that Felicia wouldn’t eat everyone else’s food. Some things never change. Even though Felicia had lost many dear friends, she was very thankful to still have friends too. She knew it would never be the same, but Felicia also felt like she had a responsibility to carry their memories with her. And they wouldn’t want her to be sad, nor did she want to be sad. Even if they weren’t right here, in this room, their lives were baked into the walls of the place— the four well-worn cups sitting on the front counter were proof of that. Felicia wiped her eye one more time, just for good measure. She would do them proud. She just wished she’d been able to do it before they were gone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Life Goes On (Ui Tamaki)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Ui! Sesame chicken for table five!”</p><p>“I’ve got it!”</p><p>Ui quickly grabbed the dish off the counter and brought it to the table it was assigned to. The happy smiles of the customers used to always bring one to her own, but not very long ago, Ui felt like she had to force herself to continue the act for the customers. She supposed that, contrary to Tsuruno’s advice, she’d never really gotten over the loss of her sister. Such was the life of a magical girl, she knew. If she was being honest, it was hard to tell if her disappointment came from Iroha’s death, or the fact that she couldn’t find her solution before she died. The solution, of course, to the inevitable fate of magical girls. Perhaps Touka might call it, “The Magical Girl Cycle”. Speaking of Touka, she, Nemu and Sakurako had taken it pretty hard, too...</p><p>“Ui!”</p><p>“Wha-!”</p><p>Ui snapped out of her thoughts. This was no time to be lost in thought! There were customers at the front of the restaurant! “Hi! I’m so sorry about the wait! Welcome to Banbanzai! Let me show you to a table!” Ui would lead the customers to a table, setting menus in front of them before heading into the kitchen to grab her notepad. Before she did, however, she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.</p><p>“Hey! You feelin’ okay?”</p><p>Ui jumped a little at the sudden motion, and quietly sighed, before she pushed a smile and turned to face Felicia with a nod. “Of course! I’m just a little lost in thought, that’s all,” she said. Felicia squinted as she examined Ui’s face. Ui knew she would find nothing, though. Even if she were lying, Felicia was terrible at reading faces. “You sure? If you want, you could take over the kitchen and I could—“<br/>
Ui swiftly cut her off. “No, no, no! You can’t take outside, Chef Doberman!” Ui couldn’t help giggling a bit at the jab she’d made, turning to grab her pad and return to the customer area of the restaurant as Felicia gave her an annoyed glare. Felicia didn’t like the name the regulars had given her, but it’d stuck, and she’d practically become an Uwasa at this point. It seemed that her short temper, though improved, had earned her the nickname some years ago. Ui knew she couldn’t help it; when she got into “work mode”, all signs of friendly Felicia seemed to practically disappear as she barked orders to or from the kitchen. Ironically, she seemed to have become an excellent manager for Banbanzai, which now had a total of four employees, not including Tsuruno’s dad. However, it also meant that Felicia was pretty much banned from ever leaving the kitchen except if a customer was becoming violent.</p><p>Stepping back out from the kitchen, Ui couldn’t help feeling a sense of pride at the sight of the nearly full restaurant. A lot had happened in the past few years, but Banbanzai had become a bit of a high schooler hangout. Sure, the food was, in Ui’s personal opinion, only about 6-7/10, but considering the affordable price and large portions, it wasn’t hard to get people to at least try it. She remembered how Tsuruno had come up with the great idea to sponsor catering for a race one day. It was a spur-of-the-moment, risky investment— typical Tsuruno style— but it had really paid off. The runners appreciated the large, protein-filled meals, and word of mouth began to spread. This, of course. Prompted Tsuruno to advertise it to magical girls as a great place to eat after fighting witches.<br/>
Needless to say, it worked.<br/>
It was unfortunate that Tsuruno passed before she could see Banbanzai in its current state, but if she were here right now, Ui knew she would be overjoyed that her wish had been partially fulfilled, even if indirectly. She couldn’t help but wonder if there were magical girls who could talk to ghosts. Maybe she could convince them to let her talk to Tsuruno, assuming you could talk to people who had witched out, one way or another...</p><p>But now was no time to think about the past. Ui shook her head and put on her best customer service smile, returning to the table she had been attending to.</p><p>“Have you decided what to drink?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This chapter is incredibly short, and I apologize for that. However, I felt like the contents of this chapter were important enough to leave it as is. I hope you enjoy regardless (:</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Rumor of the Friendship-Ending Coordinator (Felicia Mitsuki)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>On the way home from Banbanzai, Felicia and Ui were met with a witch. Considering how weak witches are now compared to what they were under the Magius, Felicia and Ui took it out with minimal magic use, and decided to take it to Mitama.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Having a stockpile of grief seeds was always a good idea. However, having enough strength to kill a bunch of witches with ease was even better! Or at least, that was Felicia’s philosophy on the situation. Any time she got a grief seed that she didn’t need right away or in her emergency backup stash went straight to Mitama for soul gem adjustment. Grief seeds typically rotated between the team, and today was “Felicia’s day”, but Ui had landed the final blow and she had offered it to her. Ui declines, though. Something about how if we didn’t keep the rotation going it would eventually break apart or something. That was fine; any extra grief seeds were usually pooled among the entire household anyway. If she was being honest, Felicia contributed to the stash of spares the least, simply because she spent as many as she could on strengthening her soul gem. By now, thanks to Mitama’s services, she was one of the strongest magical girls in Kamihama. Of course, in her eyes, Yachiyo and Tsuruno would always be the strongest— or in the latter’s case, the mightiest— but realistically, if they were both still around, she might actually be able to beat them... provided she actually came up with a strategy for once.<br/>“We’re almost there,” Ui pointed out. Felicia glanced up, noticing the building where Mitama held her shop was in view. Felicia smirked, then turned to Ui. “Race ya!” With a laugh, the two broke into a run, sprinting the rest of the way to Mitama’s office. They might be older now, but in many way, they still felt like the same old kids from before.</p><p>Felicia and Ui burst through the door, with Felicia just in front of Ui. “I win!” Felicia exclaimed. The two laughed a bit, before the caught the surprised glances of Mitama and—</p><p>“Kanagi?”</p><p>Felicia was confused. Luckily, Ui covered a bit for her with a soft smile and a shy wave. “We’re very sorry for interrupting!”<br/>“Oh— yeah, that,” Felicia stuttered. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t unusual for Kanagi to be at Mitama’s place. She just hadn’t heard from her in like, a really long time. However, the girls on the other side of the room quickly recovered from the sudden arrival of Ui and Felicia, and Mitama gave her typical customer service smile.<br/>“Welcome, you two! Actually, we were just about to call you, Felicia, so your timing is perfect!” Felicia was, of course, very confused, but before she could ask any questions, Kanagi spoke up.</p><p>“Mitama has a rather important request, and I specifically asked for you to help me with it.”</p><p>This really answered no questions at all, but Felicia wasn’t opposed. Maybe she could get free stuff from Mitama. But even better, she would get to hang out with Kanagi again! In all honesty, the two had only ever really interacted during battles. But boy were those battles AWESOME! In short, Felicia knew that any time with Kanagi was going to be a good time, and she was all ears. “Sounds lit, but can I get my soul gem adjusted first?” Kanagi responded but giving her the all-too-familiar Yachiyo Special Eye Squint. Honestly, that look still made her squirm, and this wasn’t even Yachiyo! Luckily, Mitama’s chuckling broke the sudden intensity. “I’ll tell you what, Felicia. If you sit still and listen to us first, I’ll throw in a second adjustment for free!”</p><p>What had gotten into her? Mitama never did free adjustments unless it was for EXTREMELY good reason. Apparently, whatever this “important request” was, was so important that Mitama was willing to give a free adjustment? Felicia only hoped it wasn’t going to be something as crazy as the Magius had been. Please, no more super witches; please, no more crazy artists...</p><p>“Alright, fine.” Felicia plopped herself down in one of the couches, while Ui cautiously stood next to her, asking a question Felicia hadn’t even thought of: “Do you need me to leave the room?” Mitama shook her head, and Ui sat down on another couch nearby. Mitama suddenly turned around, speaking loudly towards the room where she usually performed her adjustments.<br/>“Yua-chan, would you please lock the door?”<br/>From behind the wall came a girl with red hair and an outfit colored similarly to Mitama’s. It was like a leotard, with a dress from the sides and behind, and a sleeveless top that nearly matched Mitama’s. Her arms and legs were covered by semi-transparent black cloth, which ended at her wrists on her hands, but covered her feet— or it would be assumed, since it went under her surprisingly simple black shoes. The first time Felicia had met the girl, she’d thought it odd that her weapons, two large daggers, almost like mini swords, were tucked into her ponytail instead of in her hands, like most magical girl weapons were. However, it seemed her hair had become a sort of “sheath” for her weapons since she didn’t really have a good place to store them. It almost made her look like an old maid, ready to sew whatever torn shirt came her way. It really didn’t make sense, considering the girl was even younger than she was— Felicia couldn’t help feeling a bit bad. Some people really got jipped with their outfits, according to Felicia.<br/>“Sure thing!” Yua cheerfully replied as she practically glided out of the room, offering a brief wave as she passed by the group to do as she was instructed. She then returned to where she had been behind the wall, doing whatever coordinators do.</p><p>“I promise this won’t take too much time, but this is important to me and my shop,” Mitama began. “Lately, rumors about my shop have started to spread around Kamihama.”<br/>Felicia interjected as she sat forward on her seat. “People spread rumors all the time. Just say it’s not true and smack anyone who says otherwise!” She grinned at her own suggestion, but it was quickly shot down by Kanagi.</p><p>“If it were that simple, we wouldn’t be asking for your help.”</p><p>Fair point, Felicia thought, but secretly she was hoping it wasn’t going to end up being what she was thinking it was...</p><p>“Yes, unfortunately the problem goes a bit deeper than that. I’m sure you haven’t forgotten the Rumors created by the Magius, right?”</p><p>Out of the corner of her eye, Felicia could tell Ui was looking away from everyone else, and was instead focused on her twiddling thumbs. It made sense; Ui didn’t really like talking about the damages the Magius had caused, considering the fact that she used to be one of them— even if she was unconscious the whole time. “Yeah, what about it?” It was at times like these that Felicia felt like she had to be the older sister for Ui— especially now that Iroha and the others were gone. Even before then, though, Felicia had pretty much been the “protective sister” of the bunch. Yachiyo was the responsible one, Iroha was the... responsible one, Tsuruno was the fun one, Sana was the shy one, and Ui was the youngest one. Considering her natural personality, Felicia had taken the place of the protective one— that is, when she wasn’t being the stupid one.</p><p>Mitama finally began to get to the point. “It seems that Yua-chan and I have become one such rumor.” Mitama ended her statement with a scowl, and in the pause that remained, Kanagi continued for her.<br/>“At some point, someone reportedly stated that after getting an adjustment with Mitama, she and one of her friends had a major falling-out. If it were just one person, it might have just been seen as coincidence, but several more people have reported similar incidents. Either there is a group out to sabotage Mitama, or she’s become the center of a—“</p><p>“Nemu would never do such a thing!”</p><p>Ui suddenly interrupted, jumping out of her chair, fists by her sides. “You know she’s too sick from making rumors; she would probably die if she tried!”<br/>Felicia was pretty sure that was an exaggeration, but she did have a point. Felicia stood up, crossing her arms as she looked Kanagi in the eyes. “I think that second one’s real dumb, and you know it. I’ll help you squash those rumors, but there’s no Uwasa— I would know.”</p><p>Kanagi sighed, but maintained her demeanor despite the sudden outrage. “I know it’s unlikely. However, until we can verify that Hiiragi-san was not involved, I’m not going to discount the possibility,” she explained.  Felicia rolled her eyes, which was about the equivalent of a nod in agreement for her. She then put her arms behind her head, as Ui seemed to relax a bit and sit down on the couch. “So,” Felicia replied, “what’s the plan?”<br/>“Well, we don’t actually know who the alleged victims are. No matter how much I’ve run around asking, it doesn’t seem like anyone really knows where it started. I need more than a set of ears, though. I’ve found that, the closer I get to the source of the rumors, the more hostile people seem to be about it. It’s possible there’s a few fights at the end of the road, and I need someone to back me up.”</p><p>Felicia grinned. Now she was talking her language!</p><p>“If you’re looking for someone to punch people, you’ve come to the right place!”</p><p>“It’s a little more than that, though,” Kanagi hastily continued. “I need you to help keep them down so I can read their memories. That means don’t use your magic.” Felicia rolled her eyes. She wasn’t stupid! Well... yes, she was. But she also wasn’t the same girl who exploded with rage at the mere sight of a witch.<br/>“Yeah, yeah. No magic, just smack it. Lemme know when you want me and we’ll go.”<br/>“Perfect. Meet me tomorrow in Daito at 6 o’clock in the morning. I’ll text you the location.”<br/>“Six?!”<br/>Felicia grimaced at the thought of getting up so early in the morning, but she didn’t actually give any protest. She wasn’t going to like it, but the sooner it got done, the less nagging she would get. And while Yachiyo had been scary, she would never threaten her health and well-being like Kanagi could and probably would. “Fine... six. Meet ya there.” Felicia then spoke to Mitama. “By the way, can I give my free adjustment to Ui?” Ui looked at Felicia in surprise, but Mitama smiled and nodded, heading into the back room and expecting the two to follow.<br/>“Oh Felicia, you really don’t need to—“<br/>She was cut off by Felicia shaking her head. “C’mon, it’s free. Besides, you killed the witch, didn’t ya?” She grinned, then quickly speed walked into the coordination room before Ui could object. Or, she could, but Ui knew Felicia would just ignore her. So, with a sigh and a smile, she followed Felicia into the room, avoiding eye contact with Kanagi.</p><p>When they’d entered, Mitama had them sit in chairs on opposite sides of the room. Mitama approached Felicia, while her assistant Yua took care of Ui. It was always a weird process. They would hold out their soul gems, and then Felicia usually closed her eyes as Mitama touched her soul gem. The feeling of having someone basically invade your thoughts and memories was always really awkward. However, she could always tell how far along Mitama was when she did her thing. Every so often, she would feel a “bump” of sorts. Twice, actually. It was as though Mitama had hit some sort of heavy object the first time, and then a wall the second time, except inside of her entire body. The few times she’d asked, Mitama always joked that it was the “empty spaces in her brain”. It always made her mad, so she’d stopped asking, but she couldn’t help being curious even now.<br/>Soon enough, the coordination was over, and Felicia opened her eyes, only to find Ui was gone. Her inquisitive look was caught by Mitama, who filled her in.</p><p>“Ui finished before you, and decided to head back already.”</p><p>Really? That seemed kinda weird, but Felicia shrugged and stood up. Ui was only a year younger than her. She could take care of herself. Maybe one of her friends called her up or something and she didn’t notice. Or maybe—</p><p>“Oh! Today was supposed to be grocery shopping!” There was a sale today, and it was ending really soon! “I’ve gotta go, thank you guys!” Felicia rushed out of the room, speeding out the door and down the road in a blur, leaving the two coordinators behind, the elder one laughing a little, and the younger one with a confused smile.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Skeptic Retrospection (Kanagi Izumi)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kanagi rarely doubted Mitama. But when she did, she usually overlooked it and went on with her day. Except the last time she’d done that, Mitama had started using her neutrality to make a deal with a cult that nearly fulfilled her wish— a wish that she’d regretted almost immediately. Kanagi and Mitama had made similar wishes, but as Mitama’s was significantly more dangerous, she and Kanagi had been working together to prevent her wish from coming about. No, no mass destruction was needed.<br/>But concerning her doubts, today’s most recent subject came in the form of her assistant coordinator, Yua Hanazumi. While she technically had no reason to question her, she couldn’t help getting the feeling that there was more to her than she let on. According to her, she essentially had the same ability as Mitama, but weaker, in exchange for longer range via threads. She didn’t really do anything to tip off any internal alarms, either. But it was one of those funky feelings... when someone acts so completely inconspicuous, they seem suspicious? Although she was a little clumsy at times, Yua seemed to never do anything bad. But unless her wish was to be perfect, that just wasn’t possible. And judging by her abilities, that probably wasn’t what she’d wished for. Kanagi considered trying to mind read her, but she didn’t want to do it in front of Mitama, because that would be rude to Mitama, and Kanagi preferred not to potentially damage her friendship by going behind her back and effectively telling her, “your judgement is bad”— even if it was. Her cooking proved that point more than anything else...<br/>Still, she was pretty sure Yua couldn’t be the saboteur— not directly, at least. In talking with Mitama, Kanagi had come to learn that coordinators could not affect a person’s feelings or anything of the sort. They could only strengthen, or destroy. That meant that the person spreading the rumors was either someone trying to pull a mass stunt for publicity, or...<br/>...Wait. This wasn’t just Mitama trying to perform a mass publicity stunt, was it? Kanagi almost audibly groaned. If she found out she was being used for publicity— as if she needed it!— she would make her pay. Whether grief seeds, money or... no, not food. Her poor assistant;  Kanagi could only imagine what she had to endure...</p><p>“Yo, Kanagi-san!”</p><p>Kanagi turned to see Felicia approaching her from her left. In all honesty, it was kinda odd to see Felicia now. Her memories were ingrained with Felicia being a short 13-year-old girl, but now she’d almost caught up to her. It was also weird to see her act... responsibly. Somewhat, anyway. But that growth was why she’d asked her for the job. They made a decent team in combat, but now that she’d grown up some, she might actually be cut out for this investigative work.</p><p>“Good morning, Inu-kun.”</p><p>Felicia grimaced at the nickname, reminded of her younger years when Kanagi called her “Mad Dog”.<br/>“Come on, are you really gonna keep callin me that? It’s bad enough that you made me get up so freakin early...” Kanagi only offered her typical half cold, half sincere smile as she retorted, “It’s not my fault you earned your title.” Felicia’s only response was an annoyed look. However, there was no time to debate it further. Fine, “Mad Dog” it was— just as long as she didn’t overuse it.<br/>“So anyways, what’s up?”<br/>“The sky.”<br/>There were a few moments of silence before Kanagi spoke again.<br/>“Sorry, perhaps I’ve been around Mitama and her assistant for too long.”<br/>She quickly turned away and began walking to hide her smile, motioning for Felicia to follow her while she tried to fight it back. Felicia, though still trying to process what was going on, matched her step to her left and just behind her.<br/>“The reason why we’re coming here so early is because one of the alleged victims of the rumor comes this way at this time for school.”<br/>“This early?” Felicia asked in annoyed disbelief. “Who goes to school this early in the morning?!” The only answer Kanagi could offer was a shrug, so in silence the two continued down the alley and into another alley. Kanagi noticed Felicia nearly bumped into a garbage can, and quickly pulled her out of the way.<br/>“Whoa! Hey, what was—“<br/>Kanagi pointed to the trash can, but did not stop walking.<br/>“Oh. Thanks.”<br/>“You should pay more attention to where you’re walking.”<br/>“Yeah. Yeah. I know that.”<br/>To Kanagi’s concealed surprise, Felicia didn’t get mad. While she could attribute it to her growth in the last six years... she wasn’t sure she should be so ready to give the benefit of the doubt.<br/>“If something is bothering you, I don’t mind holding off on this mission. We can always come back tomorrow.”<br/>Felicia nearly bumped into Kanagi at the abrupt stop, but shook her head. “Nah. I already got up. I don’t wanna do it again.” Felicia have a half-hearted chuckle at the joke, but Kanagi suddenly transformed, ready to probe into Felicia’s mind.<br/>“If you can’t focus, it won’t do any good. Let’s sort that out first and then—“<br/>“Hey, no! Stop that! That’s an invasion of privacy or somethin!”<br/>Felicia pusher Kanagi away, but she overestimated her own strength. Kanagi did not budge, and instead, Felicia ended up propelling herself to the ground. However, Kanagi relented, returning to her civilian form. “Very well. But if you would like to be more open about it, you are free to do so.” Kanagi knew she was being curt and speaking in words that Felicia probably didn’t understand. But even though they hadn’t met much ever since the Magius incident, Kanagi did consider Felicia to be... well, it was hard to put into words. Not a friend, but not an acquaintance, either. A partner, of sorts. Many fictitious tales would say that one could feel another’s thoughts in the heat of battle. A connection such as that was what she felt with Felicia, but it went further than that. Perhaps it could be best explained as her being a gun and Felicia being a bullet.<br/>Okay, maybe that was the worst analogy on the planet, but it was funny and she would definitely remember it forever and tell absolutely no one.</p><p>“...Yeah. Okay...”<br/>Felicia was clearly confused, but she seemed to understand the gist of it. She stood and stretched her arms behind her head.<br/>“Well, it’s just... last night after dinner, Ui and I got into a bit of an argument. She went to sleep before I could apologize. That’s all.”<br/>“Oh.” Kanagi seemed unfazed by what Felicia had just told her, but the latter could feel her gaze pressing for answers. “Did you leave her a note?”<br/>Felicia groaned. “I didn’t think of that!” she exclaimed, punching her fist into a nearby wall. Kanagi could tell it hurt, but she didn’t flinch, which made her look cool but in reality was probably not a good thing. It implied she was used to it. More importantly, though, she had a far more pressing question to ask.</p><p>“How bad was the dispute?”</p><p>“How bad? Uh...” Felicia seemed hesitant to answer. “It was just... I accidentally used Iroha’s mug, okay?”</p><p>Kanagi was confused. “What?”<br/>“Yeah! Every now an then, we wash the others’ mugs, and I accidentally filled Iroha’s with my drink, so I just decided to drink it! Ui didn’t like it, though. Said I was dishonoring her and stuff. Maybe she’s right... but she didn’t have to get so mad about it!”</p><p>Ah, yes. There it was. The old Felicia.</p><p>“Well to be fair, it is her direct sister. That, and she still hadn’t gotten over her sister’s passing. Combined with her personality, I can see that she’d take it more personally than most. She was probably worried you would break it.”<br/>“I wouldn’t break it! And whadya mean she isn’t over it?!”<br/>Kanagi sighed. “You mean you couldn’t tell? The way she pretends to be happy, acting as though everything is fine? Contrary to what one might have thought, Ui is a worse actor than Tsuruno.”<br/>“Tsuruno?”<br/>Kanagi knew she didn’t need to say any more. Whether Felicia figures it out or not was on her, but she didn’t think it would take her very long to figure out.<br/>“But Tsuruno’s a terrible actor!”<br/>Or, perhaps she had too high of a hope.<br/>“Never mind that. Come, we can’t be late for school.” Kanagi began to leave, followed not very far behind by a grumbling Felicia.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Scripted Struggles (Felicia Mitsuki)</h2></a>
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    <p>“And in case you forgot: no magic.”<br/>
“Yeah, yeah, I get it! Don’t keep saying it or I’ll get confused!”</p><p>Kanagi had gone over the plan, and Felicia had made the mistake of giving input, meaning she had to listen to it again with even further detail. It was relatively simple: they would be standing a few feet in front of a bento shop and wait for the girl to leave, then act like they were there on pure coincidence and ask her about her experience with the rumor. It was simple. Too simple.<br/>
“Remind me why you needed me for this?”<br/>
“It’s not her that will be an issue. It’s what comes after that.”<br/>
“Well what comes after that? I thought ya said there was gonna be fighting!”<br/>
“And there will be plenty of it, trust me. I just want to extract as much information from the safer sources as I can before we start kicking the hornet’s nest.” It made sense, but that didn’t make Felicia any happier about playing pretend like this. Before she could protest, though, the sound of a bell ringing could be heard as the door to the bento shop opened. Felicia and Kanagi turned to look at the girl who exited, Kanagi offering a smile as the girl got a look at the two of them. “Chiaki-chan. It is good to see you. I didn’t think anyone would be awake at this hour.” The girl, who was apparently “Chiaki-chan”, was momentarily surprised at the presence of two people outside the store— no wonder, bento shops usually weren’t open at 6 am— but smiled and answered Kanagi. It made sense that they knew each other, at least a little, considering they were on the east side of Kamihama, and Kanagi was the former east side leader. Former, because normal territory functions had, for the most part, resumed as normal, though the two side leaders did play a bit of a role, albeit a more minor one.<br/>
“Hello, Izumi-sensei!” The girl waved as she spoke, before approaching to converse. “Of course, I’m always up this early to help get the shop ready to go. Sorry to say the shop isn’t open yet, but if you come back in a few hours, we’ll be happy to serve you!”<br/>
What was this, the second coming of Tsuruno? Yeesh. Good thing this shop wasn’t any closer to Banbanzai. The competition in the restaurant scene was fierce, and Felicia didn’t mind the idea of sabotaging her competitors— though she made sure to keep them only as thoughts.<br/>
“Ah, good. Inu-kun and I are going to be here for a while, so I will make sure to drop by if I’m still here at lunch.”<br/>
Felicia glared at the nickname being used in front of the other girl, but more importantly, how long was Kanagi planning to be out? She hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet!<br/>
“Inu-kun?” Chiaki looked questionably at Felicia, who tried her best to ignore her gaze as Kanagi spoke for the two of them. Great, she really was a dog now.<br/>
“Never mind that. Actually, while you’re here, I’d like to ask you about something we’re investigating.” Kanagi went on to explain, both to Chiaki and Felicia, about how she’d caught wind of the rumors circling Mitama, and through a long chain of asking, had come to learn that she had been associated in some way. Chiaki, whose name seemed to be Riko, as told via Kanagi’s brief recount, seemed to become visibly saddened, but compliant with Kanagi’s questions.<br/>
“Yeah, I heard about that. I was actually scared to go because of it, but my friend Misono-san thought it would be a good idea for the plot of her manga, so she went to the Coordinator’s office to “get the full experience!” she said. Some time after that, she asked me to review her manga like she always does, and I did, but she got mad when I said the plot didn’t feel conclusive... she usually doesn’t get mad like that, but I apologized anyway, because I didn’t want to upset her. Even though I told her I was sorry, she said I never give any helpful feedback, and that she would stop asking for my input.”<br/>
Kanagi listened carefully to every word, taking out a notebook and jotting down notes every now and then. For someone who wanted to be subtle, she sure seemed rather open about what she was doing...<br/>
“I see. Was there anything else?”<br/>
Riko nodded. “After that, she stopped responding to my messages, but we’re both friends with Taylor-san, and she said Misono-san was saying weird things, like, “you shouldn’t be friends with her anymore” and “you have to make a choice”. But Misono-san isn’t like that! I don’t know what’s wrong with her, though... maybe it’s college, I hear it can be stressful.”<br/>
Kanagi nodded and wrote this down too. It was at this point, though, that Felicia interjected as well.<br/>
“No offense, but I don’t think college would make someone do that.”<br/>
Kanagi looked up as she finished her notes. “What do you mean?”<br/>
Felicia shrugged. “I mean, if it were a quick thing and then she came back and apologized, it’d be one thing... but she’s going behind your back and tryin to turn your friends against ya! That pisses me off.” She put her hands behind her head, scowling for a moment before offering a sympathetic look to Riko. “I dunno what’s going on with your friend, but Kanagi and I’ll fix whatever’s going on and fix your friend.”<br/>
Kanagi seemed surprised that Felicia was saying something like that, but she nodded in agreement. “Is there anything else you can tell us regarding the incident?”<br/>
Riko shook her head, but her mood did seem to soften thanks to Felicia’s efforts. “Thank you guys. If you could at least ask her about it, then please tell her that her friends are worried for her!”<br/>
Both girls nodded. “Of course,” Kanagi assured.</p><p>After sending each other off, Kanagi and Felicia began to head back the way they came. Both wanted to say something, but Kanagi spoke first.<br/>
“That was new.”<br/>
Felicia glanced up. “What do you mean?”<br/>
“I mean, what you said back there.”<br/>
“What about it?”<br/>
“Oh, nothing. It just sounded... mature. It reminded me of Nanami-san. That’s all.”<br/>
It took a moment for it to sink in, but when it did, Felicia’s first thought was<br/>
‘Do I really sound that old?’</p><p>“Yeah, okay. Well, what’s next?”<br/>
Kanagi checked the watch on her wrist. “We find a place to park.”<br/>
Felicia was confused. “What?”<br/>
“Taylor-san used to live in East Kamihama up until sometime after the Witch’s Eve. Then, she returned to America. However, I still have her phone number, so assuming she hasn’t changed it, we have a short window of time left in which she may still be awake so we can speak with her.”<br/>
Felicia hung her head and sighed. Of course it would be more talking. “Fiiiiine. But since you’re gonna talk on the phone, let’s stop and eat somewhere.”<br/>
“You haven’t eaten?”<br/>
“You have?!”<br/>
After a brief moment of mutual surprise, Kanagi smiled and nodded. “Okay, we can find someplace for you to eat. But I’m not paying.”<br/>
“Don’t worry, I came prepared!” Felicia smirked as though this was somehow proving her greatness to Kanagi. But the two continued speed walking, looking for a McDonald’s or something to duck into.</p>
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